Former star of the immensely popular show “CSI” Gary Dourdan says his bills are drowning him, and the only way to get out from underneath the massive pile was to file bankruptcy.

Dourdan filed at the end of August, but it was only after a two-year battle which began in 2010 when he was sued over credit card debt. He says that in order to keep his home from going into foreclosure, he filed an injunction against Wells Fargo to keep them from putting it up for auction, claiming they never tried to help him work out a payment plan he could afford. Now, he says, he owes $1.73 million in debt but only has $1.8 million in assets, and the cost of living is just too much. After the bills, he’s left with around $300 a month.

The actor has had legal woes for the past few years; besides the massive debt, it’s been reported that Dourdan was arrested last year after a physical altercation with his girlfriend. Despite the trouble he’s had finding a solid acting role, he says he has things lined up and is optimistic about crawling out from under all that debt.